At the bottom of every page is a green bar with "member pages" as one of the choices. Click on that and you will get there. The term "journal" may not be the best. What they mean is that you can add info and pictures to the Hortiplax glossary, which is available to the public. If you want to just write notes to yourself, you may want to use Word, Notepad, or Excel.

Thanks. That is what I resorted to. I just wanted to make notes of what didn't come back this year and record some new plantings yesterday. After picking rocks out of a 3'x3' space for FOUR hours! I knew I would pay for stepping those in one day. I'm also wondering if I should complain to a local garden center for selling climbing roses that are not hardy for our zone. THAT was a waste of money. *instructs self to sigh, and laugh* I don't think I like being a newbie. LOL

I'd be happy to email you my excel spreadsheet, if you have excel and are able to open the file. I've been converting and adding zone 8b info, but it was started in zone 5b and a lot of it would have some usefulness, even if it just saves you a lot of typing getting started.

I think you mentioned you have a baby before, but do you have any kids old enough to put on rock duty? With the right psychology and instruction, kids can be very productive yard helpers, as long as they don't realize you're DYING for them to do it! LOL!

I would speak to the garden center about the rose. It's possible their display was misleading as to whether they were intended to be outdoors all winter, another patron may have moved their plants around, and they may have a replacement policy, or at least offer you a discount on a replacement plant. I always approach that kind of thing with a big smile and friendly tone, and by making it sound like I'm throwing it all on myself when I'm really doing the opposite, like, "I know I'm new to this and I'm probably confused but this rose I bought didn't make it through winter. Did another shopper maybe move it before I shopped that day? What do you think went wrong? How can we fix this?" This way gives the person you talk to the position of giving advice instead of defending a mistake. It lets them know you are not accusing them of anything, just trying to get a rose growing. Use the technique however it fits with the particular garden center in question, and ask to speak with an owner or manager.

I know what you mean about being a newbie. After a drastic change in latitude a few years ago, I've had some new things to learn, and am re-learning things that work differently here.